The 2-time champion team won by falling…PNG was out of breath

New Delhi. Two-time champions West Indies had to work hard to win their first match. In a low-scoring match of the T20 World Cup, a weak team, Papua New Guinea, made the West Indies sweat. The host West Indies, led by Andre Russell and Roston Chase, chased down a target of 137 runs. Both played a sensible innings in difficult times and gave West Indies a 5 wicket win. With this West Indies started T20 World Cup 2024 with victory. Windies achieved the target by 5 wickets in 19 overs. Roston Chase top-scored with an unbeaten 42 off 27 balls while Andre Russell returned unbeaten on 15 off 9 balls.

West Indies (Wi VS PNG) did not get off to a good start while chasing the target. Opener Johnson Charles returned to the pavilion without opening his account. Charles Ally was dismissed lbw by Nao. The first wicket of West Indies fell on the score of 8. After this, Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran took over the innings. The two shared a 53-run partnership to take the score past 60. Puran was caught by John Carricko off Tony Ura. Puran got out after scoring 27 runs in 27 balls. He hit 2 sixes and a four.

Brandon King, looking in good form, returned to the pavilion after scoring 34 runs off 29 balls. He was caught by Lega Siaka by Asad Wala. Raja hit 7 fours in 29 balls. Captain Rowman Powell was out after scoring 15 runs off 14 balls. He was caught by Chad Soper off Criplin Doriga. Windies got their fifth blow in the form of Sherfan Rutherford. Asad Wala sent Rutherford to the pavilion on an individual score of 2.

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PNG scored 136 for 8
Earlier, Papua New Guinea managed to score 136 runs for 8 wickets with the help of Sesay Bau (50 runs). The difference between the two teams was glaring, but Bowe (43 balls, six fours, one six) was instrumental in taking his team to this score with a spirited half-century. The PNG team was struggling after scoring 50 runs for 4 wickets. But Bau shared a 44-run partnership with Charles Amini (12) to save the team from an early collapse. Apart from Bau, wicketkeeper batsman Kiplin Doriga contributed an unbeaten 25 off 17 balls. Captain Asad Vala scored 21 runs.

Russell and Joseph took 2 wickets each
Andre Russell and Alzari Joseph took two wickets each from West Indies. West Indies expected a turn from the pitch, so after winning the toss, they invited the opposition to bat first and fielded three spinners. Aqeel Hussain’s spin-friendly position was evident in the first over. However, the first wicket went to bowler Romario Shepherd who caught Tony Ura behind the wicket. Hussain dismissed lega Siaka at number three with an arm ball.

Bau fell victim to Joseph after completing his half-century.
Alzari Joseph sent PNG captain Asad Wala (22 balls, 21 runs) to the pavilion. Vala hit two excellent shots into the cover region, but was dismissed after a brilliant catch by Roston Chase at backward point. Vala’s six over extra cover off spinner Roston Chase was one of the best shots of PNG’s innings. Bau then continued to hit boundaries at intervals to strengthen PNG’s innings and after completing his half-century, Alzari became Joseph’s second victim.

Tags: Alzari Joseph, Andrew Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Rowman Powell, T20 World Cup, West Indies